Venturing forth--from Cambridge to Buenos Aires!

I find myself sitting in the Miami airport, waiting for my flight to Buenos Aires and a little bewildered by all that lies ahead of me. I have never been given an opportunity like this before—to go somewhere, learn about the culture, choose a policy topic of interest and learn all that I can. Having spent the last four days finishing finals and papers and moving from one apartment to another, I am in a surprisingly calm space right now. I have no idea what will happen to me in the next few days, but I am very excited. I’ve been running around so much, that I haven’t had time to worry about what is coming next or how much my universe will completely change over the next 10 weeks.

I am grateful to the Nancy Klavans Fellowship (NGK) for providing the funding to make this experience possible. The NGK fellowship provides support for students to work with a women peace builder and to enhance the academic skills we have gained while at HKS. Additionally, the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has provided immense support and guidance these last few weeks as I have focused my work and chosen an organization. As a Cultural Bridge Fellow, I am surrounded by nine other Fellows who will be around the world working on pressing issues and applying the skills we have learned at HKS to a real world setting.

This summer I will be working with la Fundacion Mujeres en Igualdad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The vision of M.E.I is to end discrimination against women, by promoting their participation and empowerment in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. While at M.E.I. I will be looking at the how public policy affects the intersection between political participation and gender equity.

I don’t know where I will be living yet, but I have some family friends with whom I will stay for the first week until I get my bearings and find a place. As a vegetarian, I am a little nervous about coming to a part of the world that is known for its meat. My “host mother” is already worried about what she will feed me. I guess I will have to subsist on dulce de leche gelato! It shouldn’t be too bad.

Once I arrive in Buenos Aires, I will only be there for two days and then I am off to a conference in Paraguay. Then I will take a few days to see Iguaçu Falls and head back early next week. The topic of the conference is “Access to Information and Reproductive Health. It is exciting to know that I will immediately be going into the field and meeting women from Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina who are working on issues of gender equity and civic participation.


They are calling my flight---so I’m off! Stay tuned for weekly updates!